feser



March 24, 1964 E. J. FESER 3,126,121

CONTAINER RACK Filed Dec. 5, 1961 r 2 Sheets-Sheet l FI GO- I 48a INVENTOR. EZIJWOQD c7. 1 1 5352 fir roe/ways.

March 24, 1964 E, J, FEsER 3,126,121

' CONTAINER RACK Filed Dec. 5, 1961 V 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

E am/n20 r7. F2552 United States Patent O 3,126,121 CONTAINER RACK Edward J. Feser, 8862 Arcadia Ave., San Gabriel, Calif. Filed Dec. 5, 1961, Ser. No. 157,082 7 Claims. (Cl. 220-102) This invention relates to a container rack and more particularly to a rack for containers wherein the rack is of a unitary structure.

It is an object of this invention to provide a conainer rack formed from a material blank having a plurality of spaces for receiving jars or other containers in which the rack is pyramidal in shape having a hexagonal base portion and wherein the rack is of a unitary construction.

Another object of this inveniton is to provide a container rack formed from a material blank having a hexagonal base, upright converging supports, and an upwardly converging crown on the supports spaced above the base, with spaces for receiving containers defined between each support, the base and the crown.

A further object of this invention is to provide a container rack formed from a blank of relatively heavy, stiff sheet material such as cardboard and the like which may be folded along predetermined fold lines to form the rack.

Another object of this invention is to provide a container rack formed from a material blank which is relatively light in weight, inexpensive to manufacture and easy to assemble.

How the above, and other objects of my invention are achieved will be more readily understood by reference to the following description and annexed drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View of the container rack with containers mounted therein;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the container rack;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view partially in cross section of the container rack taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the container base partially in section taken on line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of the crown section of the container rack partially in section taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the material blank from which the container rack is formed;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of a crown key which is used with a handle for the container rack illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 6; and

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view partially in section of the container rack similar to FIGURE 3, illustrating a modified container.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, a container rack generally designated 10 is formed from a blank 11 made of relatively heavy, stiff, and bendable material such as paper, cardboard, or similar material. The rack has a generally hexagonal shaped base portion 13, a plurality of upwardly converging support members 14 extending from the base 13 and extending radially outward from a center point (unnumbered) of said base 13. Spaced above the base 13 on the support members 14 is an upwardly converging crown 15 having a flat top portion 16. Between the base 13, each support 14 and the crown 15 there is defined container receiving sections 17 for holding jars or containers 18.

The blank 11, illustrated in FIGURE 6 from which the container 10 is formed, is of a generally hexagonal design formed with six identical wedge shaped sections or por- 7 3,126,121 Patented Mar. 24, 1964 spacer tab 23 formed with a free leading edge 24 and free slanting edges 25 extending from the body of the blank 11 to the free edge 24. Further, the support spacer tab 23 has a fold or score line 24a parallel with the free edge 24 extending between the free slanting edges 25, where they meet the body of the blank 11. A container platform tab 26 is similarly formed by the cutout 22 with a free leading edge 27 and free slanting edges 28. The tab 26 is provided with a fold line 29. Adjacent the free edge 27 of the tab 26 there is formed a hole 30.

Each of the wedge shaped sections 20 is further formed with two internal radial fold lines 31 diverging from the opening 21a to the intersection of the edges 25 and line 24a. Also, each of the sections 20 is provided with container platform brace tabs 32 which extend radially outwardly from the marginal edge 21b. Each tab 32 is formed with a free leading edge 33, and free slanting edges 34 which intersect the edge 33. Further, score or fold line 35 of tab 32 is formed between the edges 34, parallel with the score line 29. A hole 36 is formed in tab 32 adjacent the free edge 33 and radially aligned with the hole 311.

The portion of the blank 11 in each wedge 20 defined by the fold lines 21 and fold line 31, marginal line 21b and opening 21a is designated as a support panel 40. Two support panels 46 form the support member 14. The portion of the blank 11 in each wedge 20 defined by the fold lines 31, fold line 24a and opening 21a is designated as a crown panel 41, which will form the hexogonal crown 15.

In order to assemble the blank 11 into the finished container rack 10, the following preliminary folding steps are required:

First, the blank is folded along a line 21 across the diameter of the blank 11 and the process is repeated along each fold line 21. The blank 11 is then opened up and turned over.

Second, with the blank 11 reversed each line 31 is folded inwardly to the first fold and opened up flat as in step one.

Third, the blank 11 is reversed from its position in the second step and each of the tabs 23, 26 and 32 are folded along lines 24a, 29 and 35 respectively, inward from the plane of the blank 11, and then returned to their original position.

After this pre-folding the blank 11 is ready for assembly. In order to accomplish the assembly the following steps are performed:

(1) Bring two adjacent support panels 40 together in flat face to face relationship with the fold line 21 away from the assembler, and the edge 43 of the H-shaped opening 22 toward the assembler. The two panels 40 in this position form the support 14. While holding the support panels 40 in this position, by any convenient means, repeat the operation with the other adjacent panels 40. When all the panels 40 have been thus assembled into six supports 14 the blank will be in a pyramidal shape similar to the finished rack. Also the supports 14 will all be radially disposed outward of a vertical axis of the rack.

It will be noted that as the two panels 40 are brought together the crown panels 41 will be moved together and engage each other at the respective fold lines 31 in side to side relationship forming the hexagonal crown 15.

(2) After the blank is assembled as set forth in step 1 the respective support spacer tabs 23, container platform tabs 26 and brace tabs 32 are each folded inward toward the axis of the rack and fit between the supports 14. The platform tabs 26 are bent declining from the horizontal. The openings 34) and 36 of tabs 26 and 32 should be aligned one above the other for reasons set forth below.

(3) In my preferred embodiment, FIGURES 2 through 7, the container rack base 13 is held together by means of two lacing cords 45 and 46. The cord .5 is passed through the aligned openings 3!) and 36 in one platform tab 26 and brace tab 32 through the holes 30 and 36 of alternate tabs 26 and 32, to the next alternate position and back to the first set of holes where the cord is tied. The resultant cord 45 forms a triangle as best seen in FIGURE 4. The cord 46 is laced in the same manner as cord 45 through the remaining holes 31 and 36. In order to tension the cords 45 and 46 and be assured of a tight lacing a cinch cord 47 is tied around one span of the cords 45 and 46. The base 13 is now firmly held in position.

In order to retain the crown together there is provided, in my preferred embodiment, crown lacing cords 50 and 51, triangularly arranged similarly to cords 45 and 46. Each cord 56 and 51 passes around an alternate support 14- at the point when the fold line 24a and edge 43 intersect under the support spacer tabs 23, as best illustrated in FIGURE 5.

(4) At this point the rack has been assembled. However, the flat top 16, formed by the opening 21a, is plugged with a crown key 55 to receive a handle 52. The key 55, illustrated in FIGURE 7, is provided with six ou wardly extending tabs 56. The tabs 56 are folded along score lines 57 and are bent downwardly and inserted through the opening 21a and each of the tabs 56 rests against and is secured by adhesive or other means to the inside of a respective panel 41, closing off the crown 15. The handle 52 may be a loop of cord or other suitable material passing through openings 58 in the key 55 and knotted on the underside of the key.

With the container rack 10 thus assembled, it can be seen that a container 18 may be positioned in a container receiving section 17 so that the bottom 18a of the container will ride on the declining platform tab 26 and it will be retained in the section 17 by its inwardly tipped position and further will be held by the wedging of the container 18 at the fold line 24a of a panel 41 of the crown 15.

The modified rack 10 illustrated in FIGURE 8 difiers from the above described rack 10 in that the blank 11 is provided with a smaller central opening 21a whereby the crown 15' has a relatively small flat top area and the need or desirability for the crown key 55 is eliminated. When the opening 21a is small the handle 52 of cord or other suitable material may be passed through holes 60 in diametrically opposed panels 41 and knotted within the crown 15'.

An additional difference of rack 10' over the preferred embodiment is that the respective contacting parts, namely, panels 41, and tabs 26 and 32 of the rack 10 are held together by an adhesive 65, eliminating the lacing cords 45, 46, 50 and 51.

While the instant invention is shown and described as a container rack for six receptacles, it should be understood that the capacity may be increased in multiples of two by increasing the number of wedge shaped sections of the blank 11. Further, by varying'the size of the blank 11 and cutout portions 43 the rack 10 may be made to accommodate containers of any size.

It is to be understood that the forms of my invention herein shown and described are practical and a preferred example of the same and the changes may be resorted to Within the scope of my invention, which is not limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent structures.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A container rack of pyramidal form having a base, a plurality of supports rising from said base, and a crown spaced above said base on said supports, said supports radially definingra, plurality of container receiving sections, said rack being formed from a blank of substantially polygonal marginal edge configuration, said blank being divided by fold lines into equal segments, each segment including a cutout portion defining a first and second tab in end to end radial alignment and each tab provided with a fold line generally parallel with an adjacent marginal edge section of said segment, a brace tab projecting outwardly from said marginal edge section of each of said segments and provided with a fold line along said marginal edge section, vertical support spacer sections defined between said tabs and each of said segmental fold lines, a vertical support spacer section being folded in face to face relationship with an adjacent vertical support spacer section thus forming said support, whereby said blank is drawn to a pyramidal shape, said second tab and said brace tab folded inwardly of said drawn shape in face to face relation thus forming said base, said first tab folded inwardly of said drawn shape spaced from said base and forming a bottom of said crown, a crown panel being defined by said vertical support spacer sections of each segment and said first tab, said panels forming said crown when said supports are drawn to said pyramidal shape, said panels reposing in abutting relationship radially around said crown base, and fastening means for holding said formed blank in said pyramidal form.

2. A container rack formed from a blank as defined in claim 1 wherein said second tabs are inwardly radially declining from the marginal edge of said rack.

3. A container rack formed from a blank as defined in claim 1 wherein a handle means is provided at the apex of said crown for lifting said rack.

4. A container rack formed from a blank as defined in claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes tie means engaging said second tabs and said brace tabs.

5. A container rack formed from a blank as defined in claim 1 wherein the blank is formed of a relatively heavy stiff bendable cardboard.

6. A blank suitable for forming into a container rack having a hexagonal base portion, converging upwardly extending supports from said base and a converging hexagonal crown on said supports above said base, said blank being of substantially polygonal perimeter and formed with a centrally located cutout opening and radially divided from said opening into wedge shaped segments by fold lines, each segment including a generally H shaped cutout portion defining a crown bottom tab and a platform tab, each tab being provided with parallel fold lines adjacent the ends of the H cutout, a platform brace tab projecting outwardly from each segment of said blank and provided with a fold line parallel to and spaced from the fold line of the platform tab, said platform tab and said platform brace tab adapted to be arranged in face to face relation forming said base, vertical support spacer panel portions on each side of each of said generally H shaped cutout portions and defined in part by the sides of said H shaped cutout portions and said fold lines comprising boundaries between said wedge shaped segments, a panel portion of one segment adapted to be folded in face to face relation to an adjacent panel of an adjacent segment forming said converging upwardly extending support, a crown panel section of each segment defined in part by a vertical support panel and said 5 crown bottom tab, and adapted to form a converging hexagonal crown when in edge to edge contact.

7. A rack formed from a blank comprising a base member, said base member formed of a plurality of 6 said spacers, a crown superimposed over said support spacers and axially aligned with said base member, said crown having converging side panels extending on a common plane with said converging support spacers, and said platform sections inclined radially inwardly, support 5 Cr embodying m ans f r attachment of a handle.

spacers extending on a plan generally normal to and from said platform sections, said support spacers converging from said base member, said support spacers positioned radially around said base member, whereby each of said platform sections are defined between two of 0 2,797,013

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bickford Jan. 8, 1929 Powell June 27, 1957 

1. A CONTAINER RACK OF PYRAMIDAL FORM HAVING A BASE, A PLURALITY OF SUPPORTS RISING FROM SAID BASE, AND A CROWN SPACED ABOVE SAID BASE ON SAID SUPPORTS, SAID SUPPORTS RADIALLY DEFINING A PLURALITY OF CONTAINER RECEIVING SECTIONS, SAID RACK BEING FORMED A BLANK OF SUBSTANTIALLY POLYGONAL MARGINAL EDGE CONFIGURATION, SAID BLANK BEING DIVIDED BY FOLD LINES INTO EQUAL SEGMENTS, EACH SEGMENT INCLUDING A CUTOUT PORTION DEFINING A FIRST AND SECOND TAB IN END TO END RADIAL ALIGNMENT AND EACH TAB PROVIDED WITH A FOLD LINE GENERALLY PARALLEL WITH AN ADJACENT MARGINAL EDGE SECTION OF SAID SEGMENT, A BRACE TAB PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID MARGINAL EDGE SECTION OF EACH OF SAID SEGMENTS AND PROVIDED WITH A FOLD LINE ALONG SAID MARGINAL EDGE SECTION, VERTICAL SUPPORT SPACER SECTIONS DEFINED BETWEEN SAID TABS AND EACH OF SAID SEGMENTAL FOLD LINES, A VERTICAL SUPPORT SPACER SECTION BEING FOLDED IN FACE TO FACE RELATIONSHIP WITH AN ADJACENT VERTICAL SUPPORT SPACER SECTION THUS FORMING SAID SUPPORT, WHEREBY SAID BLANK IS DRAWN TO A PYRAMIDAL SHAPE, SAID SECOND TAB AND SAID BRACE TAB FOLDED INWARDLY OF SAID DRAWN SHAPE 